This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Scott Goodyear is seen in front of Toironto's City Hall where he was honoured by Mayor June Rowlands for nearly winning the 1992 Indianapolis 500. Goodyear, incidentally, was inducted into the Order of Ontario two years ago, the first - and so far, the only - auto racer so honoured.. (Power, Peter / Toronto Star File Photo)

Back in the 1950s, when auto racing was a Big Deal in Toronto (it was the No. 3 sport in these parts, after the Leafs and the Argonauts), a guy named Don Goodyear won a race or two.

There’s a picture of him being handed the checkered flag after finishing first in a race at Exhibition Place in what is believed to be 1956. Although he also ran at Pinecrest Speedway, his success on the oval in front of the Ex’s Grandstand is what’s important today.

Don’s son, Scott Goodyear, first raced at Exhibition Place in 1987 when he drove the Gohr Distributing No. 56 Genesee Beer Wagon Indy car to an 8th-place finish in the second Molson Indy.

Scott Goodyear, of course, then returned to race through the streets of Toronto in 1989 with Hemelgarn Racing before — with the initial backing of Jim O’Donnell and the Mackenzie Financial Corp. — going on to a glorious full-time career in Indy car racing with both CART and the IRL.

Now, another Goodyear, Michael — Scott’s son and Don’s grandson — is on the verge of a racing career that might also see him race there. At least, that’s what father Scott is hoping.

Article Continued Below

“My father passed away this past weekend at the age of 86,” Scott said the other day in an email as we tried to nail down the time for a phone call to discuss who’s hot and who’s not going into this year’s Verizon IndCar Series season. The first race of 2016 takes place next weekend in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“He never really spoke too much of his car racing days (in the Fifties),” said the racing son who, once again, will be providing expert analysis of early season races, including the 100th Indianapolis 500, for ABC television.

“When both his cars were stolen from the back of his house, he didn’t have the money to replace them and so he bought a racing go-kart. Soon after he started karting, he opened his first kart store, which then turned into a motorcycle and snowmobile dealership — Winner's Circle — which is how I got into karting.

“The neat thing about my dad running at the CNE is that obviously I got a chance to run Indy cars there, and we (Scott and his wife, Leslie) hope that one day our son Michael, who will start racing cars this year in Formula 4, will run there also.”

Michael Goodyear, 19, is no rookie. He’s an accomplished kart racer with many wins and six championships under his belt. He’s currently attending Ball State University in Indiana, majoring in Economics and Accounting. His studies come first, according to his father, who said the plan is to focus on races in the summer rather than in spring and fall when his son will be attending classes.

Michael will drive some races — but not all — for the newly formed GMV Racing team, a company formed by Scott Goodyear, former IRL racer and dentist Dr. Jack Miller and NFL superstar Adam Vinatieri, who kicks converts and field goals for the Indianapolis Colts.

As well as driving some of the races, Michael will also do some testing in the car, as will Miller’s son Jack William, who’s an accomplished kart racer at 13 but still too young to compete in the SCCA Pro Series, which will sanction the Formula 4 series. Other drivers will also test and race the car.

Why Formula 4? And how did GMV Racing come about?

“The formula is kind of cool,” Scott Goodyear said. “The car looks neat. It’s made of carbon fibre, it’s got paddle shifters, all the electronics are on it and it’s like a little mini Indy car. The engine program is really brilliant in that Honda is doing a lease program (less than $6,000 a year).

“The nice thing about the series as a team owner/parent is that you can take the same chassis, replace the radiators because you need bigger radiators, sidepods and wings, and you’ve got an Indy Lights car.”

And the team?

“I met Jack in 1997 at the first IRL race at Walt Disney World in Florida. We were both in it. We live about two miles from each other in Indiana and our friendship really formed about five or six years ago when Jack William got into karting and we would meet up at the kart track.

“I started coaching Jack William on his driving, about the same time I was working with Michael. We’ve been talking about a team for a couple of years now. ‘Let’s do something with the kids,’ sort of thing.”

Goodyear said that Miller and Vinatieri — the athlete has played in five Super Bowls and been on the winning side four times — have been friends since the place-kicker joined the Colts after playing for the New England Patriots. The football star also has a son involved in karting and he and Goodyear became friends at the track.

“We want to run two cars this first season” Goodyear said. “We’ve been taking calls from interested parents since we announced the formation of the team in December. This is how we’ve got things set up:

“When we go to a track, I’m going to get into the car and set it up. I think one of our selling features is my ability to get in the car and drive it and get it so the kids who then drive it can be fast right away.

“Jack’s forte is his ability to put sponsorship packages together with Fortune 500 companies. He did it himself when nobody in his family had any background in racing. He was a dentist living in Indianapolis and wondering if he could make it and obviously he did. He qualified three times for the Indy 500.

“So Jack’s role is business and corporate sponsorship and working with the kids and the parents about what they have to do off the track in order to get on the track.

“Adam will be working with the kids on physical fitness and the importance of being fit, the psychology of the sport and how to handle the pressure of the sport. Who better? And that pretty much encompasses the makeup of our program.”

Scott Goodyear said that if everything comes together, Michael’s first race would be at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut on — wait for it — Indianapolis 500 weekend, which is May 29. Mom Leslie would be there but father Scott wouldn’t — being just a little busy in the ABC booth at the Speedway.

“We would like to get to the first race, but it might be tough. He’d be finished his finals but the question would be whether we have the time for him to test before going racing. It’s our goal, but it might not happen.

“Our focus is the three summer races at New Jersey, Mid-Ohio and Road Atlanta. The final race in October is in Homestead, Fla., but he’ll be back in school by then.

“But we want to get the team up and running. The key thing for us is to sell what we’re able to provide. The series is perfect for kids just out of karts. Everything in F4 is controlled. Cars get one set of Pirelli tires for the weekend and one extra front and one extra rear in case you flat-spot a tire or you cut a tire. That`s six tires.

“So you practice on last weekend`s tires, put on new tires for qualifying and those tires have to last you all weekend — three races. There are five race weekends in all — three races per weekend; two on Saturday, one on Sunday.

“The nice thing about this is that your kids are learning to race even when the tires are worn out. The motor is sealed, the gearbox is sealed. It’s the perfect formula to start a young person’s climb up the ladder.”

And what about that dream of Michael racing at the Exhibition grounds, Scott? Like you and your father?

“It would be nice if, at some point, the Formula 4 Series could be part of the program at the Honda Indy Toronto. Michael could be in those races and it could be like grandfather, like father, like son.

“If that doesn’t happen — and I don’t want to get too far in front of myself, here — but you never know where this team could go. Might there be an Indy car team in the future? You never know.

“But first things first. We have to make this work. Then we’ll think of future projects.”

WEEKEND RACING

- I love Jeff Gordon but he really has swallowed the Kool-Aid. He was at it again on Sunday, talking about how NASCAR drivers are the “best in the world” because they have to adapt to so many track configurations. This was while there was a graphic on the TV screen showing the first six speedways on the Sprint Cup schedule, starting with Daytona and the sixth being Martinsville. They all, of course, are ovals. I fail to understand the difficulty in turning left all the time. Oh, wait. So the track at Las Vegas is a mile-and-a-half and the one next weekend in Phoenix is a mile. So the drivers will have to start turning left next week 100 yards earlier than they were turning left this week? Is that it? If it is, I don’t get it. And I’ve said it many times: the world is a big place. Listening to American sports people, though, you’d never know it. The NHL is the best professional hockey league because it attracts players from all over the world. I went through the Sprint Cup lineup and – gee – the drivers are all from the United States. Maybe I’m wrong (I always give myself that out) but I think it’s very possible that there are drivers from other countries on this great, big, planet that are every bit as good (and maybe even better) than some of those who were racing in the Sprint Cup Series race this weekend. But you watch – I betcha right now that Jeff will be at it again next weekend. . . .

- Speaking of which, Team Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano finished first and second in the Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Speedway Sunday. Jimmie Johnson was third, Kyle Busch was fourth (he won the Xfinity race Saturday and was hoping to score a double in his hometown) and Austin Dillon finished fifth. Two things of interest: Although there was a small shower that held up the start, that happens everywhere. But the start was also delayed by a sandstorm. That rarely – if ever – happens. And a bunch of the racers were caught for speeding on pit road. Kurt Busch,who was one of them,was particularly angry about it and told a reporter later that NASCAR had to “grow up” and go to a button system like they have in Formula One and IndyCar. And he’s right. They don’t have speedometers on Cup stock cars, just tachometers. Although NASCAR gives leeway (if the pit road speed limit is 55 mph, they won’t get excited if someone is going 57 or 59 but 60 gets their attention). But drivers have enough to do going into the pits: they have to slow down from 200 miles an hour, they have to look for their particular pit, they have to keep from colliding with other cars entering and exiting, they have to hit their marks, and so-on. It’s 2016 and they should be able to push a button that will control their speed, as is the case with the other top series. Okay, Phoenix International Raceway is next for NASCAR – my favourite big-time speedway. And the Indy cars will be there in early April. Heaven. . . .

- Eli Tomac won the Daytona Supercross By Honda Saturday night at Daytona Speedway. Monster Energy AMA Supercross points leader Ryan Dungey finished second while his teammate, Marvin Musquin, was third. (Hey, remember what I said above about the world being a big place and there might be some better stock car racers out there than those in the all-American Cup lineup? I say that because Musquin’s from France. Good for Supercross.) Dungey’s podium finish was his 25th all-time, tying Chad Reed’s series record. Dungey will be trying for his 26th record-setting top three finish next Saturday night right here in Toronto when the Supercross comes to the Rogers Centre.

- This had nothing to do with auto racing, but a sporting hero crosses all disciplines and I beg your indulgence. I’m sorry to have to report the passing, at age 79, of Ted McCaskill. He was one of my heroes when I was a kid in Kapuskasing and wild about hockey. Teddy, and guys like Gary Ede, Nicky (Rocky) Ruckavina, Terry Talentino, Sonny Nelson, Scrappy Richardson, King Begin, Bobby Arnott and Charley (Chas) Swain, among many others, were Gods in my young eyes. (I will never forget the sight of Chas Swain, walking along the street on stilts. Don’t ask.) Ted made it to the NHL, albeit for only four games, and then was player-coach with the Los Angeles Sharks of the WHA. He spent most of his career in the Western Hockey League with the Phoenix Roadrunners and the Vancouver Canucks. He was the father of Major League Baseball pitcher Kirk McCaskill. Another of the good guys, gone too soon.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com